filled up, leaving only a narrow passage just sufficient for the entrance of one man, and of the goats which their Arab keepers drive in here occasionally for shelter during the night

"We descended over the southern brow of the hill on which the fortress stood... Passing out of the southern gate,. . . the valley beneath it opened on our view, and displayed at once a profusion of magnificent ruins .. I remained stationary, to enjoy, in stillness and silence, the prospect which had burst so suddenly and so agreeably on my view. The night was now set in, and the young moon scarcely afforded sufficient light to guide us on our way... We crossed the stream of the valley, and ascended the opposite hill, where we found, encamped in a hollow behind the top of the theatre, a tribe of Bedouins; and with these we made our halt for the night ... (lying) down with the young goats and sheep around the embers of the evening fire."

"Amman, Thursday, March 1.- During the night, I was almost entirely prevented from sleeping by the bleating of flocks, the neighing of mares, the barking of dogs, &c.

"The valley of Amman is extremely narrow being bounded on the north by the hill on which the fort stands, and on the south by the hill on which the theatre is built. The valley runs nearly east and west, and is traversed by a fine clear brook of excellent water; in which are, to this day, abundance of fish, some of them of a silvery appearance, and upwards of a foot in length. On each side of this winding stream are remains of noble edifices."-BUCKINGHAM's Arab Tribes.

"AND (Jacob) passed over the ford Jabbok."-Gen. xxxii. 22.

"Israel . . . possessed (the land of Sihon king of the Amorites) from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon."-Numb. xxi. 24.; Deut. iii. 16.

The Jabbok of the Scriptures is to be found at the present day in the stream called Zerka, which divides the district of Moerad from the country called El Belka. It is a small river, and empties itself into the Jordan. Its banks are overgrown with oleander.

459

CONCLUSION.

WE have now taken a brief survey of the GENTILE WORLD. And what are the reflections thereby suggested? Are they not these-That God has been most merciful, and man most ungrateful; and that for the sins of the people of the lands we have been mentally traversing, is judgment fallen upon them, and God hath stretched out upon them "the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness?"

Oh that we were wise! that we would consider this! England has been as a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of our God. A brighter light has shone on her than on any other land on the face of the whole earth; and if, through her ingratitude, that light be turned to darkness, how great will the darkness be! Let not the Christian patriot think that, however humble his station, or small his influence, he can do nothing to avert so heavy a doom from the country that he loves.

Had Sodom held within her guilty walls ten righteous men, she had been spared at Abraham's intercession !

And are there not in England ten times ten thousand righteous men, whose prayers might blunt the edge of Jehovah's vengeance, and bring down blessings on a sinful land?

Then, peradventure, amid the wreck of kingdoms, England yet might stand! Then, though not wholly unpunished, she would not be given over unto death! "FEAR GOD, AND GIVE GLORY TO HIM,

FOR THE HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT IS COME."

THE researches of Mr. Layard appear to prove almost beyond doubt, that the mounds of Nimroud represent the Nineveh of most ancient times. The city was originally founded on the site now occupied by these mounds, and from its immediate vicinity to the place of junction of two large rivers, the Tigris and the Zab, no better position could have been chosen. It is probable, that the great edifice recently excavated in the north-west corner of the principal mound, was the temple or palace, or perhaps